South African immigration authorities raided a U.S.-contracted refugee processing center in Johannesburg on Tuesday, arresting seven Kenyan nationals for working illegally. The center processes applications from white South Africans under a Trump administration program offering them priority U.S. refugee status. The Home Affairs Ministry stated the Kenyans were working on tourist visas alongside U.S. officials, though no Americans were detained.
The raid escalates tensions between the nations. President Trump has criticized South Africa’s government, claiming it persecutes the white Afrikaner minority—a claim Pretoria rejects. South Africa’s Foreign Ministry has begun “formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve this matter.” The ministry questioned why workers with tourist visas were at the site, raising “serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol.”
The Kenyan workers, employed by the U.S. contractor RSC Africa, were issued deportation orders and five-year entry bans. The U.S. Embassy confirmed it contracts the Kenya-based firm, operated by the NGO Church World Service, to run the program. South Africa maintains its white citizens do not face persecution but says it won’t block applications to the U.S. initiative.